Sunil Goriah

Basic Principles of Petroleum 5

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Basic Principles of Petroleum 5
Petroleum Refining Process
Introduction
Welcome to the Basic Principles of Petroleum Program, Module 5: Petroleum Refining
Process.

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this module.

Objectives
In this module you will learn: Which molecules make up the different types of
hydrocarbons, how contaminants in the oil are dealt with, why boiling points are
important to the refining process, where refineries are located, what the two basic areas
of a refinery are, what happens during the two main stages of refining, why each
upgrading procedure is important and what happens before and after the refining
process.

The Makeup of Hydrocarbons

Before turning to the petroleum refining process, let’s review the makeup of
hydrocarbons addressed in the first module. In the first module we observed that
petroleum is composed of organic matter, which in turn is made up of a series of
hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are the simplest organic compounds in that they contain
only hydrogen and carbon atoms. The simplest hydrocarbon is methane where 1 atom
of carbon bonds with 4 atoms of hydrogen. Ethane, the next, has 2 atoms of carbon and
6 of hydrogen.
The next family member, propane, has 3 and 8 respectively. A clear pattern emerges.
The carbon atom is combining with the hydrogen atoms in a very predictable manner.
The ability of carbon and hydrogen atoms to form patterns can be seen in the long
chains that characterize the more complex hydrocarbons. To recap, petroleum is a
combination of carbon and hydrogen atoms that range from the very simple to the
highly complex. This feature of petroleum means that chemical and physical processes
employed in the refinery can separate the various compounds into marketable products.

Contaminants
Crude oils have no inherent use or value without a petroleum refining industry to turn
them into useable, salable products. Crude oils are referred to in the plural because
crude oils from different geographic locations may vary in density, and in the different
levels of non-carbon and non-hydrogen elements, or contaminants. This variation allows
one crude oil to be easily distinguished from another. Besides trace elements, such as
nickel and vanadium, the most significant contaminant is the highly toxic gas, hydrogen
sulfide.

Crude oil containing high levels of sulfur is referred to as sour. Crude oil containing low
levels of sulfur is referred to as sweet. Sour crude is more expensive to refine than sweet.
At whatever level they exist in the crude oil feedstock, most contaminants are wholly or
partially eliminated during the refining process.

Boiling Point Range of Crude Oil

There is one more significant aspect of the numerous hydrocarbon compounds
comprising crude oil that we must consider before turning to the refining process itself.
Individual hydrocarbon components have a wide range of boiling points, from less than
60°F to greater than 1200°F. Some boiling points are in fact much lower than 60°F, such
as in the case of methane CH4, which boils at -258.7°F. Refining uses this property of the
crude oil in distillation, the separation of, various hydrocarbon groups or individual
hydrocarbon compounds by boiling ranges.

Location of Refineries
Refineries are either located close to a constant supply of crude oil or a major market.
However, they are not often placed at long distances from their final market, due in part
to the danger of transporting gasoline over long distances and in large volumes. In
either case, refineries are always located near an adequate supply of water, which is
required in large quantities during the refining processes.
Two Basic Areas of a Refinery
A refinery is comprised of essentially two areas: A storage area and a processing or
refining area. The purpose of the storage area is to hold the crude oil as it arrives at the
refinery, to store the petroleum products at intermediate stages of their processing, and
when they are finished, provide a staging area ready for transportation.

Makeup of the Refining Area

The processing area, or refining area, is a complex system of integrated processing units
designed to convert crude oil, by the most efficient means possible, into a wide variety
of marketable and usable products. The crude oil is distilled and refined into a series of
gases, liquids and solids, that include: propane, butane, gasoline (petrol), jet fuel,
kerosene, diesel fuel, fuel oils, lubricating oils, waxes, asphalt, coke, and petrochemical
feedstocks. The petrochemical feedstocks, in turn, form the basic ingredients for a vast
variety of products, such as: plastics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, synthetic rubber,
adhesives, fibers, polishes, paints, explosives, pesticides and fertilizers.

The Main Steps of the Refining Process

The first step of the refining process is to produce a series of physical reactions in the
crude oil by subjecting the crude oil feedstock to a varying set of temperatures and
pressures in order to extract individual hydrocarbons or groups of hydrocarbons.

Separating
This first step is known as separating. Having been cleansed of inorganic salts before the
crude oil was stored, the crude oil feedstock is fed through a series of distillation towers
at successively higher temperatures and lower pressures, where the various fractions of
hydrocarbons are each drawn off during a process known as distilling or fractionation.
Those fractions with the lowest boiling point will be drawn off first, typically fuel gas,
propane and butane. Collectively these are known as fuel (gas) or light ends and come
off below 30°F.
Hydrotreating
Hydrogen is then applied to the remaining fractions to remove or reduce sulfur and
nitrogen compounds whose presence inhibits the action of catalysts used in later
processes. This process is referred to as hydrotreating. Between 30° and 350°F, liquid
light ends and naphtha are drawn off and hydrotreated to form gasoline. Kerosene,
drawn off from 350° to 450°F, is hydrotreated to produce jet fuel. Distillate, drawn off
from 450° to 650°F, becomes diesel when hydrotreated. From 650° to 1000°F, heavy gas
oils are fractioned off and are used as fuel oil or asphalts or are converted to some of
the products already mentioned. This can only be accomplished with the help of
additional treatments such as reforming and cracking, each of which we will discuss in a
moment.

What the Market Demands and the Need for Additional

Treatments
The greatest market demand is for the lighter petroleum products such as gasoline, jet
fuels and diesel fuels. Typical crude oils yield only 54 to 62 percent by volume of the
lighter products. In other words, crude oil produces between 38 to 46 percent by
volume of low demand, low value heavy products. The additional treatments, known
collectively as upgrading, split the low demand, low value fractions into the higher
demand, higher value petroleum products. Each of these additional treatments performs
a slightly different function.

Reforming
Reforming converts the low-octane gasoline produced from the crude distillation
process into high-octane gasoline, or into petrochemical feedstocks.

Cracking
Cracking converts heavy low value, low demand gas oils, which are predominant in most
crude oils, into blendstock for mixing with gasoline and diesel fuels through the use of
heat or catalysts.
Alkylating
Alkylation uses catalytic action to convert olefins (hydrocarbons that contain a smaller
ratio of hydrogen to carbon than regular hydrocarbons ) into a separate set of high
octane liquid blendstocks, which are used for upgrading gasoline.

Catalysts and Utilities

In addition to utilities, such as water, steam and air, the refining process requires various
other feedstocks, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, and a series of catalytic beds. The
catalytic beds, comprising mostly of a metal, such as platinum, act to promote particular
chemical reactions that would not occur in the absence of the catalyst. The catalysts,
although not actually consumed in the reactions they promote, have to be replaced and
refurbished periodically. This occurs during planned shutdowns of the refinery. The
crude oil, the basic feedstock of refineries, has to be bought in the open market and
transported to the refineries. The finished products also have to be marketed,
distributed and delivered to the users. The transportation, distribution, and delivery of
oil and gas is the subject of the next module, followed by a discussion of the marketing
of crude oil and refined products in the final module.

Summary
Objectives
In this module you have learned: Which molecules make up the different types of
hydrocarbons, how contaminants in the oil are dealt with, why boiling points are
important to the refining process, where refineries are located, what the two basic areas
of a refinery are, what happens during the two main stages of refining, why each
upgrading procedure is important What happens before and after the refining process.

Review
In this module you learned that crude oil is formed from a variety of hydrocarbons, each
with a specific boiling point. You were taught why crude oils from various geographical
locations can be distinguished one from another. You saw how the basic properties of
hydrocarbons are utilized in the refining process. You learned how low demand, low
value products are reformed into high demand, high value products. Finally, you learned
about the three pairs of low demand products and reformed high demand products,
and their associated reforming process.